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Websleuths News

Join Websleuths Radio for the final discussion of THE KILLING SEASON
with Josh Zemam, Rachel Mills and special guests including Bob Kolker author of Lost Girls

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Despite her serious condition, Winnie said she would be “on top of the world” if Brady gave up his final secret.

She added: “It would mean my dying wish had come true and we had finally got Keith home.

“I don’t give a sh/t about Brady any more. I am running out of time and just want to bring my son home.

“But I feel in my heart he won’t ever tell me. He hasn’t shown the slightest bit of remorse. I can’t see why he has done this to me.”
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And she said that if she ever saw him, she would “stab him from top to bottom.”
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Keith Bennett will remain "in the possession" of Moors murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley until his body is found, the victim's brother has said.

Alan Bennett said the death of his mother, Winnie, 78, on Saturday must not be seen as closure to the case as the family vowed to continue the fight to locate the remains of the 12-year-old.
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The closest Mrs Johnson came to giving him a funeral was to hold a memorial service at Manchester Cathedral two years ago at which she tearfully told the congregation: "I'm Keith's mother ... he's there on the Moors, I want him back."
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The family of Moors Murders victim Keith Bennett have criticised police for not renewing the search for the body of the 12-year-old whose mother died on Saturday without fulfilling her dream of laying him to rest properly.

They said they were fed up with ‘pointless platitudes’, amid claims that it was only because of a forthcoming TV documentary that officers carried out high-profile raids to trace a letter in which killer Ian Brady may have finally revealed the burial site.
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It is sad, but his family should believe he has been resting in peace ever since he died. He was an innocent child and his soul will have been taken care of well, if you believe anything at all can happen to a soul. His body has been buried in a fashion, and prayers have been said for him.

But in the bigger picture, funds should not be taken away from people who can still be helped, in order to find a skeleton that has been at peace for many years already. Ideally the time to have spent money of helping Keith and his family was when Brady and Hindley were first beginning to show signs of not being normal. There is never enough help for people in the earlier stages of their aberrations, before the offences occur.

this sticks in the craw

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During filming for a Channel 4 documentary due to be aired this evening, Ms Powell speculated that the contents of the letter might reveal the exact location on Saddleworth Moor, near Oldham in Lancashire, where Brady buried Keith after strangling him with a piece of string.

However, it has now emerged that producers of the documentary waited 10 days before passing on their knowledge of the letter to Greater Manchester Police, who took a further two weeks to arrest Ms Powell on suspicion of preventing the lawful burial of a body.
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A TV documentary about Moors murderer Ian Brady will air with the approval of Winnie Johnson's family, broadcaster Channel 4 has confirmed.
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In a statement, Channel 4 said: "This documentary will be airing tonight as planned following consultation with Winnie Johnson's family and with their approval. There will be tweaks to reflect Winnie's sad passing but otherwise the film will remain unchanged."
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It is sad, but his family should believe he has been resting in peace ever since he died. He was an innocent child and his soul will have been taken care of well, if you believe anything at all can happen to a soul. His body has been buried in a fashion, and prayers have been said for him.

But in the bigger picture, funds should not be taken away from people who can still be helped, in order to find a skeleton that has been at peace for many years already. Ideally the time to have spent money of helping Keith and his family was when Brady and Hindley were first beginning to show signs of not being normal. There is never enough help for people in the earlier stages of their aberrations, before the offences occur.

I disagree, it's no trivial thing to give some comfort to the family of victims, who are second-hand victims themselves, the pain will never cease for them. Of course it won't help Keith now, but the killer withholding the body from the family is his sick bit of remaining control over them. The area they need to search isn't huge, so I don't see how it could cost much for authorities to help with the search.

For the mother, while she was alive, yes. And I believe the police were making efforts while she was alive. But I don't believe the rest of the family have the same emotional needs in this respect. I think now it's about carrying on Winnie's quest out of respect for her. That is noble of course, but isn't "victim's needs" in quite the same way as Winnie had victim needs. I think this is an appropriate time to decide it's enough. I certainly don't want some poor foolish advocate put through a costly court case and possibly costly jail sentence just for being an unprofessional idiot, on top of all the other costs. She's already made herself look enough of a fool to have damaged the potential profits from any book or movie.

Keith was one of 6 children (including a step-sister), who also had to deal with the pain of losing him, which must have been every bit as intense for them as for their mother. On top of this, they are also mourning their mother, and knowing that Brady won and Winnie never found peace. It's probably even more painful for them at this moment in time than ever before. In addition, Keith must have had loads of aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who miss him terribly and want to say goodbye. It's very insensitive to just dismiss the whole cause just because the mother is now dead, this is what the family are begging for not to happen. Winnie was the public face of the search and probably held them all together, the family's morale will be very low at this moment in time, knowing that there are people like you who suddenly think finding him is no longer important, and that their chances of finding him are lower than ever now people don't care any more. Hence referring to keeping going for their mother, which is probably a battle cry so that the family don't lose the strength needed to keep going with the search. It's only the family's place to decide when the time is right to give up.

I imagine Ian Brady would be quite unhappy if Keith's remains were found, which is a second reason I fervently hope they are found and soon.

The family is, of course, the first reason. I've seen enough comments from victim's family's to know that not being able to lay them to rest as the family wishes is not a minor issue for them, but a deeply traumatic one.

I do see Inge's point. I wonder if a private foundation or group might be able to pay for the continued searches?

Yes, Brady would loathe for others to find Keith. I watched the documentary tonight and Brady is obsessed with power, control and "winning" his battles. He has been on a hunger strike protest for this reason for the past 13 years - if he gives up "they" will have won. I hope they manage to drag his life out for as long as possible, because every day they keep him alive, Brady doesn't "win". He despises authority, loves his notoriety, is proud to have zero remorse and has spent his time in prison constantly fighting legal battles etc just to make a point because he hates authority so much. He thinks of himself as highly intelligent, and loves to trick psychologists and be cleverer than them, hence the mind games. Keeping Keith's location a secret is a final bit of power he can have over his victims, and the public. The documentary also showed how important it is for the families of all the victims that Keith is found - they need the closure too.

I saw a programme "the science of decay" a few weeks ago, they found 200-year old unmarked graves in a cemetery by measuring electrolyte levels in the soil. This new technology could be a new hope for finding Keith, as his body is thought to be well preserved in the peat. I wonder if the family know of this method? I wonder if they can be contacted? Their website seems to be down.

Last edited by squish; 08-20-2012 at 07:51 PM.
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